Edwin coburn



EDWIN COBURN, JR, OF LEWIS'ION,1\AINE.

Letters Patent No. 76,161,. dated March 31, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN TOOTH-PLUGGERS.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it-known that I, EDWIN COBURN, Jr., of Lewiston, in the county of Androscoggin, and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Improved Tooth-Plugger; and I hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which-will cn'ahle others to make anduse my invention, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of my invention.

'Figure 2 is'a view of the hammer, and the method of releasing the same, so as to strike the blow; also an end view of the hammer. V

Figure 3, a view of the slot in the cylinder and the rings, by means of which the force of the blow may be regulated.

Figure .4, a view of the method offastening or holding the rod stationary.

Figures 5 to 21, inclusive, are views of different points.

The object of my invention is to produce an automatic tooth-plugger for dcntists use, by means of which a blow can be given to the filling of the tooth in two directions, that is, by pushing upon the filling, as common, and also by drawing or pulling.

I amaware of patents heretofore granted, by which blows are made and struck upon the filling of teeth, by pushing or pressing upon the same until the hammer is released, but this is only done, as before specified, when the force is a'pushing one.

It often occurs, as when the cavity in the tooth is on the inner side within the mouth, that thefilling can only be properly and conveniently packed by pressing the point of the instrument against the filling, and then drawing toward the operator, and outwardly from the mouth of the patient. It is the purpose of my invention to supply a tool for this use as well as for the other In order to show this clearly, reference is made to'the hooked pointa, for instance, and the others of an analogous construction, (seen in the drawings, figs. 5 to 21.) These, it is apparent, are intended to be pressed against the filling, and then the operator pulls or draws the instrument to which they are attached towards himself.

It is obvious that,-when a tool of this kind is constructed, the same, blow or movement of the hammer, moving-in the same direction, will serve for both the direct and the backward blow, as the hooked points are attached at-one end of the instrument, and the straight one at the other. a is at one end, and the other, the straight one, at b.

O is a cylinder; 0, a rod, extending the length thereof, and through the same. Thisrod has spiral eoils around it; one at 1, another ate. ve is secured in place by resting against f and g; OZ, by being held in the cup It, and resting at the other end against the hammer 2'. The rode has a shoulder, j, to receive the blows of the hammer when released. Thehammer has a hole through it for the free passage of the rod 0. This is shown in both figs. 1 and 2. The hammer has a hinged arm, 70 with a point, at, and projection m, and spring Z.

To the inner side of the cylinder,'at the proper point, is secured thcpiece 0, with an inclined surface and sharp edge or point.

Thepurpose of the hinged arm is, "with its spring Z, point 1:, and projection m, together with the piece 0, is to release the hammer, when the coil d is sufficiently contracted, in order to strike the blow. The spiral, e, restores the rod :3 to its normal position after the blow is struck.

'The operations of the parts thus rcferred to are as follows: Grasp the outside of cylinder 0 in the hand, and, resting the cndwith the point Z1 on the filling, slide the cylinder toward the point 6. The projection m of the arm I: is kept in the nick p by the pressure of the spring Zon theinside of the cylinder 0. Thus, as the cylinder descends toward 6, the hammer 1' slides upward, or rather remains stationary on the rod 0; but, by the passage downward of the cylinder C, the hammer is brought nearer the upper end of the cylinder, and so compresses the coil cl. But when the point 11 of the arm 70. reaches the piece o, the point at is carried up on the inclined face of 0, thus drawing m out of the nick p, and permitting the hammer to bedriven downward on to the shoulder j, and to strikethe-blow. When the pressure of the hand or its pushing-force is withdrawn, the

coil e returns thecylinder to its proper place, as scenin the drawing, and allows the-pointb to protrude through thecnd for another operation. I I

As the cylinder 0 returns its clf,,liowevcr, it carries up with it the hammer 2', by reason of the pressure of .the spring Z; the hammer moving very easily on therod 0 until it comes up to the lower end of the coil d, thus leaving the space 1' for the hammers descent. It is apparent that the same effect is produced witlrthc devices thus explained,,if' the crooked point a is placed over an edge, and the cylinder drawn toward the operator, and the force of the hammer is then exerted toward the operator, which is the desired direction, inasmuch, as before described, this point a is intended to be used where on the teeth a pullingor drawing force has, from the position of the cavity, to be applied. This,result is, I believe, novel, and constitutes one peculiarity of my invention, and is, moreover, one that largely increases its usefulness.

sis asmall projection on the inside of the cylinder C. Around the outside of the cylinder at this point is the ringv t, having asmall stud, u, projecting within the cylinder. The projection s has a small recess, into which this stud can be turned, moving as it does by and with the ring it. When the ring it is so turned that the stud u is in the recess in the projection s,'then the rod 0 may move up and down in the cylinder, or rather the cylinder may move or slide on the rod a; but when the ring is so turned that the stud is out of the recess in s, then the cylinder cannot be moved, as the stud slips over the upper side of the shoulder on rod 0,- in-which case the tool may be used as an ordinary filling-instrument. v

Another method of efi'ecting this is seen in fig. 4, where the movement of ring t mnvesa pivoted pawl over and ofi from the shoulder j.

-v is a ring at the other end of the cylinder, and w is a diagonal slot'under the same, through the cylinder". Through this ring, through the cylinder, and into the cup it, pass studs so. By turning the ring 1'), the st'uds x pass downwardly in the slot 10, carrying with them the cup h, and'thus contract the coil d. At any point, the studs are held by notches in the edges of the slot 20, (see fig. 3.) These devices are to stiffen thespring, or to case it so as to increase or diminish the force of the blow of the hammer.

Figs.'5 to 21 show-differcnt descriptions of points to be useil with the drawing or pulling-end of the plugger. They are intended for various positions of oaviticson the inner and under sides of teeth, and are serrated on their. ends, as illustrated. v The/ points are removed and applied by having a screw, and fitting the ends of the cylinder, as common. A groove in the shoulder jallows of ith passage over the projection s.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The rod a, passing longitudinally through the cylinder 0, and having its coils d and e, for the purpose. of making the tool doublein its operation,'as herein set forth. 7 V

2. In connection with the rod 0, the hammer z', with its hinged spring-arm la, and the inclined piece a, as and for the purposes set forth. v

3. The means of making the rod stationary, as shown in figs. 1 and 4, as described.

4. The method of stiffening the coil d, as shown in figs. 1 and 3, as set forth.

5. Constructing a tooth-.plugger, asdescribed, so that the blow of the hammer 2' shall operate to compress the filling of a tooth when either a pulling or pushing-fierce is applied, in the manner aud'for. the purposes hereimdescrihed.

EDWIN GOBURN, JR.

Witnesses:

W. H. CLIFFORD, WM. FRANK'SEAVEY. 

